Workbench



June so, 1925. I 1,544,292

- W.- A. ADAMS WORKBENGH Fiied May 11, 1922 a Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VENTOR.

ATTORNEYS.

June 30, 1925. j 1,544,292

W. A. ADAMS WORKBENCH Filed May 17, 1922 3 Shafts-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

d4 ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 39, 1925.

. I 1,544,292" PATENT. or

WALTERA. nnnlvisor nocnns'rn'rt,' Nnwionxr wonmanucn.

' Application filed. May 17, 1922, Serial Noi 561,153.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER A. ADAMs, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Rochester, in the? county of Monroe and State of New York,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Workbench, ofwhich the following is a specifica tion.

The present invention relates to a work bench or stand designed for usein factories,

and an object of the invention is to provide a bench or stand, which maybe combined with others, of a like nature, to provide a compact unitarystructure foraccomniodatiug any desired number of operatives. Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a bench which will be, so formed,that an operative may have her sewing materials within easy reach,provision being made for 1; the convenient disposition of either the finished or unfinished goods." A further object of the invention is toprovide a work bench or stand ofnovel and durable construction.

To these and other ends, the invention consists of certain parts andcombinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter described, thenovel features. being pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan vlew of four combined work benches, constructed inaccordance with this invent-ion;

Fig. 2 shows the strand in side elevation of two benches;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical section through the lower portion of aside frame connecting two benches;

4 is a section on the line H, Fig. 3,; Fig. 5 is a section on the line55, Fig. 3-

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 66, Fig. 3;

7 is a detail view of the under side of the clamp for the lowermostsupport of two benches;

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 88, Fig. 3; Fig. 9 is a sectional viewon the line 99,

Fig. 13; r I

10 is a section on the line 10-10, Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a section on theline l111, Fig. 17;

Fig. 12 is a. section on the line 12-12, Fig. 2 through one bracket;.Fig. 13 is a section on the line 1313. Fig. 2 with part of-one benchbroken away;

Fig. 14 is a view of the under side of the uppermost support adjacentthe inner ends v of'two compartments; f I Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectionon the line 5 F 4; P r Fig; 16'is an enlarged section on the line 1212,Fig-2 through one bracket Fig. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view ofone. side frame showing an end ofthe lowermost support; 7 I

Fig. 18 is a section on the line 18"l8, Fig; 16-; and

Fig. 19 is a fragmentary perspectiveview of one corner of" the sideframes.'

The embodiment of the invention herein illustrated employs side frames,each" of which comprises a front upright portion 1', a rear uprightportion 2, a lower connecting portion 3, and anupper connecting portion4., In order that each side fraineinay' be. ad: justed so as to be leveland horizontally aligned with 'the other side frames, each uprightportion has an adjustable foot 5 (see Fig. 4:), these feet having baseflanges 6 with slotted bolt openings 7 by which said sockets may berigidly secured to the sup. port on which the stand i'rests. Oppositesides and; the front; edges of these: base flanges are notched at 7* inorder that. the feet may be aligned with a line on thexfloon made foraligning all of the side frames. After this alignment is obtained thefeet are secured by screws passed throughthe'opemin s i the uprights 1and 2 and each foot is ob.- tained by providing the upright with ade.pending projection 8, operating in the socket of the foot and having aslight lateral movement therein, in order that a set screw 9,f operatingthrough the side wall'of the socket may force .the converging walls 5 ofthe socket, into binding engagement with the converging walls. 8 of thedepending projeotion 8.. 'The socket of each foot and the projection aremade non-circular, soas to prevent the turning of the foot= It is preferred to cut away the flange 6 on one side, in orderthat the flangewill not project beyond the uprights 1 and 2, andthat the verticalsurfaces 5" on the rear feet of two frames arranged back to back. mayabut;

The lower connecting portions: 3 of the. two frames are detachablyconnected together by connecting pieces or supports 10, 11 and 12,preferably in the form of boards, resting on the upper surfaces of thecone necting ortions 3, the connecting portions preferab y beingdeflected downwardly -toward the, front of the bench and the board i Theboards 11 and 12 may act as supports for any object or article used bythe operative. In order that these lower supports 10, 11' and 12 may "befirmly, held to the connectingpie'ces 3, a clamping bar 13. is providedfor each side 'framebenches are connected to one'side frame, a

' clamping bar like that shown in Figs. 3,

5, 6, 7 and 8 may be employed. This clamping bar at its rear end isslotted vat 14 to straddle the flange or rib 15 on the rear up right 2and is slotted at 16 tostraddle the flange or rib 17 on the upright 1.The under side of this .bar 13 may be provided on itsunder side withspacing devices 19 for entering between the supports 10, 11 and 12.Longitudinal ribs 18 may be providedi on. the under side oftheclampingbari midway between the side edges thereof for limiting thelongitudinal movements of the supportslO and 11, while the longitudinalmovement of the support '12 is limited 1 by the vertical flange 15 onthe inner face of the upright 2. 'VVitlrthe' end in view of holding eachclamping member ,to its connecting piece 3, the connecting piece maybeprovided midway between its ends with a bolt opening 20, while theclamping bar or member is provided with a bolt opening 21. A bolt22'extends through both these openings and secures the clamping bar inposition. The opening 21 is situated in one of the spa(:' ingribs 19, sothat it will not interfere with .the seating of the connecting pieces10, 11 and. 12 on the horizontal connecting piece 3..

At the end. of a series of benches or when 7 only one bench is employed,a clamp 13 (Figs. 11 and 17) is employed. This clamp hasthe-ribs 18 'forengaging the ends of the connecting pieces 10 and 11. A rib 18"isprovided which rests upon theconnecting portion 3 and beyond said riba downwardly turned flange 18 is'provided, which gives a finish to theend of the bench. The clamp is secured by a bolt 22 in the same manneras the clamp 13 and it is notched at its ends at 14* and 16 to receivethe flanges 15 and'17 on the inner *sides of the uprights-2 and 1respectively.

- Each side-frame preferably has its upper connecting portion-extendedat 4- beyond the'upright 1 and on this upper connecting portion't withits extension 43a supporting member or board 23 is secured preferably byproviding the upper portion 1 and 'its extensions with laterally slottedenlargements 24 through which screws 25 pass. vThis support extendstransversely of th When two bench and lies over the lower supports 10,

1.1 and 12, while projecting infront of the latter, so that an operativemay sit between two of such supports and place the finished orunfinished goods thereover.

In order that two side frames may be against accidental release from theslots 27 in the event that the bolts should become loose.-

There may be also provided in connection witheach bench an upper support30, which, in this embodiment ofthe invention, is common to twooperatives, being supported opposite ends on brackets 31, each of whichis supported in the illustrated embodiment on two side frames arrangedbackto back.

In order that thesebrackets 31 may be supported on twoside frames,arranged back to back, each of the side' frames is provided onitshorizontal connecting portion 4 with a horizontal surface .32 inrear'of the transverse support 23, the opposite sides of the? side framebeing provided with notches 33 (see Fig. 19) in the portion having'thesurface 32.- The bracket 31 has near its center a transverse lug. 34which projects downwardly between the side frames and acts to space thelatter. This bracket31 also has notches 35 inopposite sides and throughthese notches and the notches 33, bolts 36 extend, these bolts beingheld in the notches 33 and 35 by passing through open ings in plates 37(see Figs. 2, 16 and 18').

The uppersupports 3O (see'Figs. 9 and 10) are secured to the brackets31"prcfer,- ably by slotting said uprights at 38 at their upper ends andproviding seats 39 on oppo' site sides of said slots and upwardly turnedportions 40 on the outer sides of said seats. The width of each of thesesupporting portions 39 is sufiicient to permit the ends of the twosupports 30 to be secured thereto, said supports 30 being held inpositionon the seats by screws 41 passing through the latter and intothe supports 30, so that two supports 30 may besecured thereto. At-theend of a number of benches short pieces 3O (see Fig. 1) may be securedto the seats 39 to give a finished appearance to the bench.

Each bench may be provided with acorn partmentfor the reception ofmaterials and articles used in connection with the work. In thisembodiment of the invention, this result is secured by providing twocross pieces 42 secured in spaced relation trans i e'rsely or thesupport 30 to p oject from the to the support 30, a. s curing frame itmay be provided preferably of cast metal of rectangular construction andformed to between the side piece 42 and the rear walls 44, this framebeing secured to the support 30, and having portions 47 projectinglat-erally therefrom to engage under the rear walls 44- and the sidewalls 42 of the cone partments. Screws 48 secure the frame if) to theunder side of the support 3.0.

In order that electrical fixtures may be used in connection with thebench, each support has a central opening with a metal collar 50 securedto the top surface of the support about said opening, this collar beinginternally threaded and being adapted to be engaged by a conductor tube51 which extends through the opening 49 and an opening 52 in thesupportingframe 46. An elbow or other coupling device 53 is secured to.the lower end of the conductor tube and abuts the under side of thesupporting frame 46, in order to also serve for securing said frame tothe support 30. With the elbow 53 or coupling device another conductortube may connect preferably leading under the support 30. and throughthe the opening 38 in the uprights31.

From the foregoing it will be seen that there, has been provided a workbench which may be either used as a single unit or may be combined withother benches to provide a single longitudinal structure, or may beunited with other benches backto back. This construction enables thebuilding at a small expense and at a short time of a desired number ofbenchesin a compact space. A side frame is provided which is adapted toform a common side frame for two benches. Each side frame has twouprights connected by a lower connecting member on which the lowersupports or boards of two benches may rest. A clamping means, isemployed in connection with this lower connecting piece which spaces thelower sup ports or boards apart and,iat the same time, firmly holds theboard pieces to the side frames without the use of separate securingdevices for each board. Each side frame also has an upper portionconnecting the upper ends of its uprights andprojecting forwardly fromthe front upright to support transversely extending supports, which willbeutilized for any suitable purpose by the operative, the latter sittingbetween two of. said transversely extending supports and using the lowersupports" or boards between the lower portions'o-f-ktwo side frames as arest for the feet or for the, holding of any su-itablearticles ormaterialsused in connection" with the work. Provision is made forsecuring two-side frames back to back,

sothattwo benches may bear-ranged in a compact structure back to back. iDetachably supported on the side frames and, in this instanoc'fone oreach two. side frames arport is a compartment projecting forwardly ifrom said support toward the user of the I bench. Two compartments have,in this instance. common sides'and between these sides and also the rearwalls: of thetwo compartments a frame is arranged which firmlysecuresthe two compartmentsto the upper support. a I

lVhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent.is:

1. A work bench comprising two side frames. a lower horizontal andlongitudinall v extending support having a wide surface on whicharticles or other material may be supported connecting said side frames,and two elongated horizontal and transversely arranged article supportson the side frames above the-lower horizontal and longitudi-v nallyextending supports, said vupper two horizontal and transverselyextending supports being spaced apart and projecting for-v v wardlybeyond the front. edge of the lower support. i

A work bench comprising two side frames, a lower horizontally andlongitudinally extending support connecting said side frames'and havinga wide surface on which material' or'other articles may be supported,

two elongated horizontally and transversely extending article supportssupported on said side frames in a plane above the lower support, saidhorizontally and transversely extending support projecting beyond thefrontedge of the lower support and spaced apart to provide an open spacebetween thesupports, and a horizontal support supported by the sideframes, extending the full distance between them longitudinally of thebench and lying in a plane above the transversely extendingsupports withits forward edge in rea r of the forward edge of the lowerlongitudinally extending support, I

31 In a wo rl bench, the combination with two side frames, eachcomprising two upby tending support connecting thelowerconnectingmeinbers of the two side frames and having a widesurface onwhich the material orother articlesmay be supported, and two elongatedarticle supports extending horizontallyand transversely 'of the benchand each secured to the upper connecting member of a side frameand to anextension, the

two transversely extending article supports being spaced apart toprovide an opening in which an operative may work.

, 4. In a work bench, the combination with two side frames eachcomprising a front and a rear upright, a lower connecting member betweenthe uprights, and an upper connecting member between the uprights; of alower support connecting the upper connecting member between thesideframes and having a wide surface on which material or other articlesmaybe supported, and elongated supports arranged horizontally andeXtending transversely of the bench, said elongated supports being'securedto the upper connecting members of the two side frames projectingbeyond the front uprights of said side frames and being spaced apart soas to provide a space in Which an operative may work. i

5. In a workbench, the combination with two side frames each comprisinga front and avrear upright, a lower connecting member between theuprights. and an upper connecting member between said uprights; of alower horizontal support connecting the lower connecting members withthe two side frames having a wide surface on which material or otherarticles may be supported, two elongated transverse article supportseach secured to theupper connecting member of a side'frame andprojecting forwardly beyond the front upright .of said side frame,

the two transverse article supports being spaced apart to provide aspace in which an operative may work, two. brackets each detachablysecured to one of the side frames in rear of the transverse supportthereon, and an upper horizontal support connecting said brackets abovethe transverse supports, the forwardedge of said horizontal supportbeing in rear of the forward edge of the lower support. t 1

6. In a work bench the combination with two side frames, each comprisinga front and a rear upright, a lower connecting member between theuprights and an upper connecting member between said uprights, of alower support connecting the lower connectg members of the wo s e fra sha g a wide surface on which materials or other articles may besupported, two elongated transversely extending article supports eachsecured to the upper'connecting member of a side frame and projectingbeyond the front upright of such sideframe, said elongated supportsbeing spaced apart -to provide a space in vwhich an operative may work,two brackets each secured to one of the side frames in rear of thetransversely extending supports thereon, an upper horizontalsup portconnecting said brackets above the transverse supports and having-itsforward edge in rear of the forward edge of the horizontal support, andmeans projected forwardly from the upper support in vertically spacedrelation from the edges of the elon gated transverse supports andprovided with a compartment in which suitable articles 7 may bereceived.

7. The combination with two pairs of side frames, the members of eachpair being arranged back to back and each side frame embodying a rearupright and a front upright, a lower connecting portion between theuprightsof each frame, an upper connectingportion between the uprightsof each frame, a lower support connecting the lower connecting portionof a sideframe of one pair with a lower connecting portion of a sideframe of the other pair, transverse supports'each secured to the upperconnecting portion of a side frame and projecting forwardly beyond thefront upright of said side frames,,tw o, bracketsaeach secured to thet-wo members of-a pair of side frames and projecting upwardly above saidside a side frame of the other pair, transverse supports each secured tothe upper connecting portion of a side frame and projecting forwardlybeyond the front uprightof said side frames, two brackets each securedto the two members of a pair ofside frames and projecting upwardly abovesaid side frames, and" an upper support connecting the two brackets'eachof said brackets having a spacing projectionextending therefrom betweenthe two-members of the pair of side frames to which saidbracket issecured.

9. The combination with two pairs of side frames, the members of eachpair being arranged back to back, of upright brackets, a s em d o th Wem m e s of a pa r ao Y of side frames and projecting above said sideframes, said brackets each having a spacing projection extendingtherefrom between the two members, of the pair of side frames to whichsaid bracket is secured, and a horizontal support connecting the twobrackets.

10. In combination with a horizontal support, two compartmentsprojecting from opposite sides of said support, each compartment havingtwo of its side walls connected to two of the side walls of the othercompartment, the connecting portions extending beneath the horizontalsupport, and a frame secured to the under side of the horizontal supportand engaging with said side walls to hold the two compartments to thehorizontal support.

11. In combination with a horizontal support, of two compartmentsprojected from opposite sides of tie supports having their side wallsconnected and arranged under the support and their back walls arrangedin spaced relation, and a frame secured to the under side of the supportand engaging said compartments to sustain them on the support.

12. In combination with a horizontal support, two cross pieces extendingtransversely of said support and projecting from opposite sides theretoto provide side walls for two compartments, front walls connecting theouter ends of the cross pieces, rear walls connecting the side piecesbeneath the horizontal support, a bottom wall for each compartment, anda frame secured to the support and having portions engaging the rearwalls of the compartments and the transversely extending cross pieces inorder to support the compartments from the support.

13. In combination with a horizontal sup port, two transverselyextending cross pieces arranged beneath the support and extending fromopposite sides thereof, two pieces connecting the ends of the twotransversely extending pieces and forming the front walls of twocompartments, two pieces connecting the transversely extending piecesand forming the rear walls of the compartments, bottom walls for thecompartments, and a rectangular frame secured to the under side of thehorizontal support and having portions extending under the transverselyextending cross pieces and also under the rear walls of the compartmentsto hold the compartments to the horizontal support.

14;. In combination with a horizontal support a compartment projectingfrom said support having side pieces extending under the support, and aframe secured to the under side'of the support and having portionsengaging said side pieces to sustain the compartment on the support.

15. A work bench comprising side frames, lower horizontally arrangedsupports connecting said side frames and having a surface on which thematerial and other ar ticles may be supported, and upper transverselyextending article suoports projecting beyond said side framestransversely of the lower supports, and the bench opening verticallyupward from the lower horizontal and longitudinally extending supportabove the two upper horizontal and transversely extending supports, sothat an operative may work between such transversely extending supports,an upper article support arranged longitudinally of the bench in a planeabove the transverse supports and a compartment projecting forwardlyfrom said uppermost support.

16. A side frame for work benches coinprising uprights a lowerconnecting member between the uprights, clamping means extending fromone upright to the other for securing the ends of supports to saidconnecting member, an upper connecting member between said uprights, andan extension forming a continuation of the upper connecting member.

17. A work bench having lower article supporting means extendinglongitudinally of the bench substantially throughout the length thereof,two upper article supporting members at opposite ends of the lowersupporting means extending transversely of the.

bench over the lower supporting means and projecting beyond the frontedge of said lower supporting means, and a bench opening verticallyupward from the lower horizontal and longitudinally extending supportabove the two upper horizontal and transversely extending supports, sothat an operative may work between such transversely extending supports,and a compartment arranged in a plane above the transversely extendingsupports in a position between said supports and over the lowersupporting means.

18. In combination with two frames each provided with notches onopposite sides, a spacing plate arranged between the two frames providedwith bolt openings, and bolts extending through said openings and lyingin the notches of the two frames.

WALTER A. ADAMS.

